"People listen to your words, but they follow your actions"- Maro Itoje: England's new captain set's the tone for 2025 Six Nations
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Last week, England head coach Steve Borthwick made a significant change to his squad, as he assigned a new captain to lead the side into the 2025 Men’s Guinness Six Nations. Maro Itoje was appointed with the role, and the lock took the proverbial armband off his Saracens teammate Jamie George, with all eyes turning towards England’s opening round battle against Ireland.
Itoje broke his personal silence in his regular reserved and coherent manner, and gave his first official press conference as England’s new skipper. The lock set the tone on how he aims to elevate England’s performance, after Borthwick’s side succumbed to an unfortunate Summer and Autumn of five defeats in a row.
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"If I was to summarise my approach, it is to lead and to serve. I want to serve the squad, serve the country, serve the staff, serve the fans in the role. It is an incredible honour, but with leadership I just want to bring myself into it, bring the best of myself into it.
“I want to be authentic and be me and build a lot on the great work Jamie has done with the team, and hopefully I can help bring the best out of my team mates. That is what I am going to endeavour to do.”
Itoje possesses a definitive intellect on how to talk to the media, and articulates his answers with his calm demeanor that makes for some engaging answers. However, the lock understands that the best way to get a rise out of his teammates is not through a well explained pre-match speech, but by letting his on-field actions do the talking.
“What is required for me is to build on a lot of the things that I am already doing. We often speak about great leaders and what they do, or great captains, and first and foremost, the most important thing, without any shadow of a doubt, is that you play well. That’s the most important thing.
“That’s more important than any speech I can make, that’s more important than any interview that I could give, or how I walk, how I talk. The most important thing is that I play well. So that’s first and foremost. My priority is making sure that I play well, because by playing well, that is the best form of leadership that one can do.
“People listen to your words, but they follow your actions. So first and foremost, that is a big priority for the team. And secondly, I would say, probably from a team point of view, we need to work harder. We need to run harder. We need to be more together and, I guess I’m the captain, but it’s not just me who is going to be the catalyst of change, it’s all the senior guys. It’s Jamie (George), it’s Ellis (Genge), it’s Ben (Earl), it’s Henry Slade, it’s all the senior guys in our team, Marcus (Smith), (George) Fordy, Fin (Smith), we need to, as a as a collective, work harder for the team and get the right results.”
The 80-capped England lock has worked under an assortment of great captains throughout his time in the national set-up, and even before any international honours as a young Saracens break-out. Itoje gave a run-down of all the great captains he had the opportunity of sharing the pitch with, with the list coming full circle in the form of his former Sarries skipper Steve Borthwick.
"As I have played with and been under a whole number of different captains. My first captain was Steve, I was in the academy, and he was in his last year as a professional at around 35 and I could see how he operated as a captain. Whilst I was very young then it left a mark on me. Then it followed, in a Saracens context, I had Alistair Hargreaves, I had Brad Barritt, who was a phenomenal captain.
“He was a warrior, he led from the front and would literally throw his face into everything and he was very articulate and communicated very well. After Brad Barritt, we had Owen (Farrell) who you know very well, a fierce competitor, someone who is fighting for every inch, fighting for every blade of grass, driving the team.
"In England we had Dylan (Hartley), then Owen, Jamie who I have had the pleasure of working with for the entirety of my professional career and he is a top class human being. He is very articulate, he understands people, he understands the game really well.
“So I have learned a lot from him as well as so many other senior guys who I have had the honour and privilege to have played with. Even in a Lions context, some of the captains there, even some of the leaders who weren't officially team captain. People like Billy and Mako (Vunipola), Wiggy (Richard Wigglesworth), people like Dylan, who was captain of England when I first joined. So, I have had the honour and privilege to play with and be under some of these great guys.
"But the key thing with leadership and navigating your own path is learning and acknowledging the good in others but forging a path for yourself. That is definitely what I have got to try and do.”
Itoje will give his first official pre-match team talk as England captain on February 1st, in the away changing rooms of Dublin’s Aviva Stadium. Whether the second row will lift his comrades with a passionate and firery speech, or deliver a few ice-cold words of wisdom to the younger squad members remains to be seen. Itoje was asked whether he could pinpoint a specific changing room speech that resonated with him, and the lock called upon a rousing Owen Farrell number, that took Saracens to victory in a high stakes clash with Exeter Chiefs back in 2019.
“I remember during the final of the Premiership when we played Exeter. I think it was perhaps the last time we played Exeter in the final. It was just off the back of the European final, if I recall correctly in 2019. We were down on the scoreboard and to be honest, I can’t remember exactly what he said, but I remember Owen saying something, which was like, ‘we need to turn this around now. We need to sort ourselves out, otherwise this is not going to be a good day for us.’
“I think that’s often the case. I don’t want to speak for other players, but you can’t often remember the content of what people say, but what you do remember is how they make you feel. What I endeavor to do, is to motivate my team and teammates in a way which makes them feel ready to throw themselves at the task at hand. Myself, and for the other leaders, it’s our responsibility that we are able to do that.”
“Perhaps when I was a little bit younger I would try and do everything myself and take up all the responsibilities myself. Now, I have learned to lean on other people and get the best out of others a lot better, by empowering them, leaning on them and knowing I trust and back them. I know a lot more about the build-up throughout the week and how to get performances on a more consistent level. I definitely think I have matured over the process. I think that has all helped me become the person that I am today.”
Itoje’s ability to understand his teammates as a group of individuals, has certainly elevated his status as a genuine leader of men. The lock recognises how at both Saracens and in the England set-up, his teammates respond differently to the psychological anecdote of using a ‘carrot’ and a ‘stick’ as motivating factors. In the analogy, a carrot dangles in front of a donkey to encourage the mule to work hard, while the stick would strike the animal if it began to slow down.
“Humans are incredibly fascinating and understanding that no two people are the same is ever more present in the rugby team. How you speak to certain players is different to how you speak to another player, if you want to get the best out of them. Some players prefer the stick. Some players prefer the carrot. Understanding when and where the carrot or the stick is, is more appropriate in order to achieve your goal."
“Isn’t life a series of pressure and promise? I don’t think I’ve ever put on an English shirt and felt and not felt both of those two things. There’s always an element of pressure when you play for England, whether you’re on the bench in the squad or the starting 15. But what an opportunity, it’s a tremendous opportunity, and I think the potential from the last year, I’ll be first to admit that it didn’t go all the way we wanted. But I think what is fair to say, is that one thing we did show was a lot of potential. My role is to help us realise that.”
The post “People listen to your words, but they follow your actions”- Maro Itoje: England’s new captain set’s the tone for 2025 Six Nations appeared first on Ruck.
